Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Great Ouse
Bedfordshire
THERE were few rivers that didn’t enjoy rave reviews from anglers during the 1980s. Regardless of where you were in the UK, silverfish stocks were booming, giant bream shoals were commonplace and big barbel and chub were a possibility on a growing number of waterways.
But natural venues then suffered a well- documented decline and with the birth of commercials coming at roughly the same time, anglers started to head elsewhere to wet a line.
As the years have crept by, rivers have started to make a comeback. The likes of the Thames, Trent, Warwickshire Avon and Wye have shown their potential for match, pleasure and specimen anglers alike, with visitor numbers increasing at an impressive rate.
Some venues, however, are still struggling to recapture their heyday and the Great Ouse at Bromham in Bedfordshire is arguably one of them.
Large numbers of match anglers used to flock to the stretch, bagging quality nets of silverfish from a well- maintained stretch of a once- prolific waterway.
With the venue now overgrown in areas, it continues to be given the cold shoulder by many.
Maver Milton Keynes and Dynamite Baits man Ian Smith started his angling journey on the venue more than three decades ago and has fond memories of it.
“It was absolutely full of fish and it was one of the places that really got me addicted to fishing,” explained Ian.
“Like many, I moved on to pastures new and never came back… until recently.”
A new challenge
In recent years Ian has developed a love for bream fishing on large reservoirs but, with the species feeding inconsistently on his favoured waters of late, he set out to try his hand elsewhere.
A couple of stretches of the Great Ouse delivered decent nets of silvers before he received a tip- off that his old stomping ground had begun to produce some big barbel.
Armed with a feeder rod and a bucket of big pellets, he embarked on an exploratory session.
“My first impressions were of how overgrown it was compared to how I remembered it. It took a little more effort to get to the waterside, but closer inspection revealed that there were still several accessible swims.”
His large halibut pellet hookbait was gently lobbed close to the far bank around 15m away and the rod was placed on the rests.
It didn’t take long for the rod tip to tap gently, but the regular indications weren’t substantial enough to strike at.
A fish was eventually hooked but it wasn’t his primary target, with a 10oz roach clinging on to the oversized pellet.
“It was at that point that I realised the fishing on offer was miles better than I’d been used to all those years ago”
Another came shortly afterwards and the cogs in Ian’s brain began to turn.
“I thought the first roach was a fluke, but when I caught a second of a similar size I wondered if there were a lot more to be had.
“I switched to lighter tackle and a smaller pellet hookbait and couldn’t believe the response, with quality roach to over 1lb 8oz and dace to 8oz coming every chuck.”
A return trip with more appropriate tackle followed and the result was staggering, with more than 50lb of quality silverfish going into the net.
“It was at that point that I realised the fishing on offer was miles better than I’d been used to all those years ago.”
Trotting tactics
If you’re going to catch silverfish one- a- bung, then fishing the float is your only real option.
A swim with a steady glide is important and Ian pinpointed a promising spot.
“It’s around 5ft deep down the middle and gradually shallows up towards the far bank.
“Try to find a swim with a relatively sparse covering of streamer weed and there’s every chance you’re in for an amazing session,” he said.
Maggots and casters may seem like the obvious bait choice, but there’s no sign of them in Ian’s bag.
The stretch is teeming with tiny silverfish that sit near the surface and as soon as a pouch of either breaks the surface, it erupts with tiddlers. Instead, he turns to a bait rarely used for roach and dace.
“I would have never considered using pellets for either species, but they are by far the best bait.
“It all comes down to what the fish are used to feeding on. Very few anglers fish a float on this stretch, but there are a growing number of barbel anglers.
“Pellets are the main bait fed and all species have come to rely on them as their primary food source.”
A tin of Dynamite Baits Hempseed & Snails provides a change bait on both the loosefeed and hookbait fronts.
Like halibut pellets, this bait will sink to the bottom and not drift away in the current, creating a carpet for the shoals to congregate over.
Aggressive feeding
Neglected fish stocks behave in a completely different manner to pressurised shoals. They aren’t tuned into anglers’ efforts to catch them and show little caution when feeding.
Ian gives the catapult a thorough workout from the off, regularly firing in half a pouch of 4mm halibut pellets every time the float is run through.
“I feed just behind the float and the loosefeed catches up with the rig in the steady flow. You can’t overfeed these fish if they are in the mood. The only time I reduce the amount of feed is if the fish back away for a period. Even then, it’ll be a quarter of a pouch every run through.”
When IYCF joined Ian, he was tucked into a picturesque swim. The banking was firm and flat enough for a seatbox to be safely positioned, with streamer weed to the left and a clear run downstream.
The view was pretty spectacular too, with a row of expensive properties and giant, well- tended gardens running along the far bank. On the fishing front action was almost instant, with the 6mm halibut pellet hookbait producing a 4oz dace first cast.
“There seem to be so many silverfish here that you could drop in anywhere and catch straight away.”
Despite scorching temperatures well above 30 degrees celsius, the float kept going under at regular intervals during the four- hour stint, with around 15lb of quality roach to 12oz and dace banked by the end.
It was a fabulous catch in conditions that were atrocious for this style of fishing. Yet Ian appeared dejected.
“I’m just disappointed I couldn’t show the venue’s true colours as this is the lowest weight I’ve had in several visits.
When a river can produce double figures on an ‘ off day’, it’s pretty clear you have fished a very special venue.
“I don’t believe you can overfeed these fish if they are in the mood”